Don’t know as my list will be any better considered than anyone else’s but it will be more laboriously so. I still can’t decide what order they should go in and am having no luck separating the Ranowns from each other. I guess I’ll just put my list out soon in whatever form it currently sits. Whatever I decide will probably change tomorrow anyway. To be honest I could probably select 30 that would be pretty much interchangeable. :-\

Let me see if I can do this. I don’t know if I can actually put them in any kind of order of preference, because I find that my “favorites” shift constantly.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (Sturges)

RIDE LONESOME (Boetticher)

RIO BRAVO (Hawks)

TOMBSTONE (Cosmatos)

VERA CRUZ (Aldrich)

BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE (Boetticher)

RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (Peckinpah)

THE WILD BUNCH (Peckinpah)

ONE EYED JACKS (Brando)

HOMBRE (Ritt)

BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID (G. Roy Hill)

THE GUNFIGHTER (King)

THE PROFESSIONALS (Brooks)

DAWN AT SOCORRO (G. Sherman)

RIDE, VAQUERO! (J. Farrow)

FOUR GUNS TO THE BORDER (Carlson)

THE LAST OF THE FAST GUNS (G. Sherman)

APPALOOSA (Harris)

COMANCHE STATION (Boetticher)

PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID (Peckinpah)

And there are many more, to be sure.
One thing I must mention, I am not a big fan of John Ford’s films. I like some of them (especially MY DARLING CLEMENTINE and THE SEARCHERS). I also understand why is so important to the history of cinema. But, his aren’t my favorite type of Westerns. That is why there isn’t anything by him in my Top 20.

And just as I am about to push “Post” on this…I keep thinking…I forgot some really important titles here!! I hate Top 20’s… ha ha!

Well, for what it’s worth, here’s my list.
As I said before there are at least another 10 films which could easily have been included (if not more) and the order is pretty arbitrary but it pretty much reflects the films I enjoy most and return to most often.

Thanks for the welcome back comments, amigos!
I have gotten to the point where I do not “think” too much about cinema, anymore, Stanton. I am a bit bored by what I perceive as an increasing tendency of fans to over-intellectualize films (and art, in general, for that matter, including music). So, when someone asks what my Top 20, or so, films of any type are, I just go with the ones I really do like and tend to watch over and over. I don’t ponder which ones are the most important to the history of the genre or that are technically the best. Sure there are hundreds of other titles I could have picked, because there are hundreds of other U.S. Westerns I really love, but I didn’t pick them. I picked the ones I really like. I am not going to pick titles just because I think other people might want—or expect–me to pick them! ha ha! The key to the way I list “favorites” now is if the film is something I find myself watching again and again. If I tend to watch it once, or twice, a year…or more…then that is what I will put in a Top favorites list.

One important title that I managed to leave off my list above is WARLOCK ( Edward Dmytryk). That one could easily replace APPALOOSA on my list.

Over-intellectualisation of some films is a bad thing, but others were designed to be discussed, be analysed, be interpreted and doing so can lead me to see new things in movies I thought I knew very well, although that could well be just me.

I don’t think I could make my own top 20 US westerns yet, I just haven’t seen that much of them. The Wild Bunch, Unforgiven and the newest True Grit would probably be in it though, as well as that little b-western called Colorado Sundown. Personally, when I make top something lists it’s always about what I love more (which admittedly, can sometimes be difficult to say).

I would have expected The Wild Bunch to top the list without seeing any of the Top 20’s, it seems logical that the more violent type of westerns are more popular among spaghetti western fans, and Bloody Sam is of course identified with bloody violence.

Also predictable that Clint Eastwood would score high with his westerns, but it surprises me a little that his more thoughtful Unforgiven beats the more action-oriented efforts.

Ford and Hawks are still the kings of the classic western, and far more popular than others like Mann, Walsh or Boetticher.

High Noon is far more popular than Shane.

Surprisingly popular: The Hunting Party (but it is violent), Lawman (same story)

Surprisingly low marks: Ulzana’s Raid, Red River (Hawks is defined as the director of the Rio Trio, so it seems)

Apart from the good marks for Ford and Hawks, I find it good to know that more thoughtful, less violence-oriented movies like Butch cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Monte Walsh, Jeremiah Johnson, The Gunfighter, Warlock and Ride the High Country are still watched and loved by younger generations. There’s hope, for both the future and the past.

Two from the Top 50 I haven’t seen: Doc + 3:10 to Yuma (remake)
Not sure about Death Hunt (it’s a Bronson movie, if I’m not mistaken, and I often mix his films up, they all then to blur into one movie starring Chuck and Jill)